[Buddha-l] Saantideva (Re: Pudgalavada)

[Richard Nance]

Hi Dan and Joy --

A resident Tibetologist might help with the sense of the Tibetan, but
it might also be useful to check the relevant Sanskrit. Not to imply
that the extant Sanskrit will recapitulate precisely what the Tibetan
translators had in front of them, and not to imply that Tibetan
translations aren't worth consulting as well, but Śāntideva didn't
compose his texts in Tibetan, after all.

The Sanskrit of the verse under discussion, in the edition I have
ready to hand, reads as follows:

yan na kāye na cānyatra na miśraṃ na pṛthak kvacit /
tan na kiñcid ataḥ sattvāḥ prakṛtyā parinirvṛttāḥ //

A rough translation of the above might be:

"That which is neither in the body nor elsewhere, neither mixed nor
separate with respect to some [locus],
Is nothing. Hence, sentient beings are fundamentally (or naturally:
prakṛtyā) nirvāṇic."

With apologies for the Buddhist Hybrid English of "nirvāṇic." If you'd
prefer "liberated," feel free to opt for that.

It seems to me that the translation quoted originally ("That which is
not in the body nor anywhere else, neither intermingled nor somewhere
separate, is nothing. Therefore, sentient beings are by nature
liberated") captures the sense of the Sanskrit quite well.

Best wishes,

R. Nance